Democratic mayoral nominee Jim Kenney's political connections stretch farther than the 215 area code.
Kenney will be crossing the Delaware River this September to give a speech at a fund-raiser for Rep. Donald Norcross (D., N.J.).

Forget about a Sam Katz-Bill Green ticket for the Nov. 3 general election for Philadelphia City Council.
The pair have confirmed they decided against seeking two of the seven Council at-large seats set aside in the City Charter for a minority political party. Those seats, in a city controlled by Democrats, have been held for decades by Republicans.

If he is mayor, former City Councilman Jim Kenney, likely won’t have his passport stamped as much as Mayor Nutter. Kenney’s vision to get international business to Philadelphia includes expanding the port and airport, and not so much traveling overseas.

Forget about a Sam Katz-Bill Green ticket for the Nov. 3 general election for City Council. The two politicians said Wednesday night they have decided against registering as their own political party to seek two of the seven City Council at-large seats set aside in the City Charter for a minority political party.

THE GOVERNOR of the nation's top cheese-producing state visited the capital of cheesesteaks yesterday and ordered two topped with American, skipping the customary Cheez Whiz but avoiding the blunder of a former presidential candidate who was ridiculed for wanting his with Swiss.

In a week, more than 36,000 Philadelphia public housing residents will be asked to take their cigarettes outside, an unprecedented bid to try to improve the health of some of the city's neediest tenants.

From his cell on C block, Eric Jackson could hear the whirl of a nearby fan but couldn't feel the breeze. As the temperature in Philadelphia ticked into the 90s Monday, Jackson ripped the sheet from his bunk at the House of Correction. He said it had started to stink of sweat.

The former "hanging judge" of Philadelphia Traffic Court - a man so known for meting out tough justice to scofflaws that colleagues nicknamed him "the Terminator" - caught a break Friday when it came time for him to face up to his own crimes.

On matters of land use, Philadelphia City Council members have long deferred to the wishes of the member whose district includes the land in question, a collegial practice known as "councilmanic prerogative."

The criminal conflict-of-interest trial of former Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Willis W. Berry Jr. will likely go to the jury Wednesday after a full day of testimony in which a state prosecutor ended his case and Berry's lawyers began their defense.

The city's fiscal overseer, the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, approved Mayor Nutter's final five-year spending plan Thursday, despite concerns raised by the city controller that Philadelphia's government could be facing significant deficits by 2017.

The City Council race between incumbent Kenyatta Johnson and Ori Feibush delivered fireworks. But you wouldn't know that from the results of Philadelphia's May 19 Democratic primary. In the end, the freshman councilman outpaced Feibush by nearly 2-1.

As New York City prepares to do away with cash bail for thousands of low-level offenders charged with nonviolent crimes, Jim Kenney is weighing a bail reform proposal for Philadelphia, part of a broader plan to address the city's overcrowded prisons in the event that he wins the mayor's office this fall.

Mayor Nutter was set to depart Tuesday night for a six-day trade mission to Germany and Israel, to encourage companies there to do business in Philadelphia and local firms to expand into those foreign markets.

Mayor Nutter plans to travel to Germany on Tuesday to sign a "sister city" agreement with the mayor of Frankfurt, the first such pact Philadelphia has entered since 1992. From there he is scheduled to head to Tel Aviv, which signed its own sister-city agreement with Philadelphia in 1967.

The chorus of protests over the firing of a suburban Catholic schoolteacher who is in a same-sex marriage grew Friday to include Philadelphia's Republican mayoral nominee, a Catholic LGBT group, and an 8-year-old pupil who wrote to Pope Francis.

Philadelphia is likely to become the first U.S. city designated a World Heritage City, an elite title given to about 250 municipalities worldwide, officials in Mayor Nutter's administration said Thursday.

On the heels of a diplomacy trip to Mexico, Mayor Nutter on Thursday scolded presidential candidate Donald Trump, saying the billionaire's recent comments about immigrants from that country were an attempt to "generate more money - which is kind of currently what he is all about."

About 200 parents of students from Waldron Mercy Academy met Wednesday night to discuss the Catholic elementary school's sudden firing in late June of its popular and well-respected director of religious education.

Speaking with one voice, Philadelphia's mayor, City Council president, school superintendent, School Reform Commission chairwoman, and teachers' union president, and the head of a key charter school group, have told Harrisburg: Give the city schools $159 million.

Despite Philadelphians smoking less, they are still smoking enough to help fund city schools. As the 2015 fiscal year wrapped up Tuesday, state, city and school district officials were confident they would get the $49 million they were expecting from the new $2-per-pack cigarette tax.

In a sweep of Philadelphia public schools, investigators from the City Controller's Office found a litany of health and safety threats, including exposed electrical wires, cockroaches, and widespread water damage.

A law that permitted the National Rifle Association to sue Philadelphia and other municipalities over local gun ordinances that are stricter than state law is unconstitutional, a state appeals court ruled Thursday.

The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office has agreed to change two of the most scrutinized aspects of its civil forfeiture program - a $6-million-a-year juggernaut aimed at taking cash and property out of the hands of drug dealers.

At the 11th hour, several community and nonprofit groups and at least one city councilwoman are crying foul over the city’s upcoming tax lien sale. The city is scheduled to start selling 1,400 tax liens on Wednesday in an online auction.

Anthony "Tony" Fulwood, 72, a longtime police officer and bodyguard for Mayor Frank Rizzo and other politicians who was remembered as a "gentle giant," died Wednesday at his home in Wynnefield after a seven-year battle with multiple myeloma.

The city has a pending lease deal with the airlines at Philadelphia International Airport, but it could be scuttled over a City Council "labor harmony" provision making it easier for lower-paid workers at the airport to unionize.

A bill passed by Philadelphia City Council on Thursday aims to improve regulation of city billboards, including a requirement that for every digital billboard built, two static signs must be torn down.

A plan to purchase land being eyed for a new prison was shelved Wednesday after running into opposition from those who accused the city of giving prisons priority over Philadelphia's struggling school system.

The city’s fiscal watchdog, the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, will be releasing its quarterly financial report Wednesday that shows a drastic drop in projected real estate tax revenues — $14.5 million for the city and $20 million for the School District.

Despite community opposition, the Philadelphia Historical Commission on Friday approved portions of a developer's plans to reinvent a string of Center City properties, including what remains of the former Boyd Theater.

City Council acted on a heap of legislation Thursday but left on the table one controversial issue, the purchase of Northeast Philadelphia land that officials have said would be ideal for a new prison.

Democratic mayoral nominee Jim Kenney says, if elected, he wants the Philadelphia Parking Authority to issue even more tickets — in addition to the parking variety for which the army of meter readers are already notorious.

A Philadelphia judge on Wednesday acquitted 10 people charged with disorderly conduct at a raucous protest at a Lawncrest town-hall meeting in March with District Attorney Seth Williams and Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey.

Federal housing officials on Thursday slapped former Philadelphia Housing Authority executive director Carl R. Greene with new penalties on top of his current three years' suspension from doing business with the U.S. government.

HARRISBURG - Another Democratic state legislator from Philadelphia has pleaded guilty to corruption charges in the resurrected sting investigation.
Rep. Michelle Brownlee pleaded guilty Monday to one count of violating the state's conflict-of-interest law and was immediately sentenced to 18 months' probation. As required by the state constitution, she resigned her seat upon sentencing, but she will more than likely be allowed to keep her pension.

The fire chief did not hesitate. He walked into a room at the West Philadelphia nursing home and headed straight for the woman in the wheelchair. Hers was the voice he had heard cry "help" after 13 hours buried alive.

HARRISBURG - A judge on Friday rejected a request that he dismiss bribery and other charges against State Rep. Louise Williams Bishop in the sting investigation after her lawyer argued that the case was too old and Bishop's memory too weak.

Philadelphia City Council launched its school-funding counterplan to Mayor Nutter's proposed property-tax increase Thursday, calling for raising taxes on parking lots and businesses as well as a much milder boost in property taxes than Nutter wants.

The Philadelphia School District wants $103 million more from City Council.
On Tuesday, Council made it clear: It is not thrilled with the request, and the cash won't come easily after several years of increases for a district in crisis.

HARRISBURG - A member of the state House and a former colleague pleaded guilty to corruption charges Monday, bringing to three the number of Philadelphia Democrats convicted in the resurrected "sting" case.

The developers who hope to transform the now-largely empty Gallery at Market East into a destination retail center made their pitch to City Council on Thursday for legislation needed to get the project going, but were waylaid by two other concerns: a living wage and making the previous occupants whole.

One day after a heated hearing between City Council and school district officials, on Wednesday parents, teachers and advocates had their turn and delivered a straightforward message to Council: We need more funding.

Can Philadelphia do a lot more than the Nutter administration did to collect taxes?
The Revenue Department says it collected more than $100 million in delinquent real estate taxes last year, the most ever; boosted tax foreclosure filings to more than 1,000 a month in late 2014, up ninefold from a year before; raised more than $30 million

A plan to purchase land being eyed for a new prison was shelved Wednesday after running into opposition from those who accused the city of giving prisons priority over Philadelphia's struggling school system.

A top Nutter administration official Thursday made his best pitch to City Council: The mayor's proposed property-tax increase is the clearest way to get city schools the $105 million they desperately need.

A bill that would pave the way for a new prison along the Delaware River to replace the aging House of Corrections was put on hold Thursday after push-back from the city Planning Commission and Northeast Philadelphia residents.

Even as election day unfolded, Councilman Wilson Goode Jr. said he knew how it would end.
He was listed dead last on the ballot. Ahead of him was a field of qualified challengers. And - as has been the case before - the politician who says he doesn't care much for politics had run a minimal campaign.

Two Philadelphia City Council incumbents, including 15-year veteran W. Wilson Goode Jr., failed to win the Democratic Party's endorsement Tuesday, guaranteeing there will be four new members on the 17-seat legislative body next year.

City Commissioner Anthony Clark and newcomer Lisa Deeley won the Democratic primary for the commissioners race.
Republican incumbent Al Schmidt did not have any challengers, so he, too, will move on to the November ballot.

Lynne M. Abraham was feeling great.
She had just lost the Democratic mayoral primary, but she was relentlessly upbeat. After a long day, a long six months, Abraham shook hands, flashed wide grins, and said she "had a wonderful day," and "was proud of the campaign we ran."

James F. Kenney, a 23-year veteran of City Council and true son of South Philadelphia, rolled to an easy victory Tuesday in the Democratic mayoral primary, making him the odds-on favorite to become Philadelphia's next chief executive.

The people around here call this the Land That Everybody Forgets.
If there is a capital of the Land That Everybody Forgets, it is Tent City, a community of tents and shanties tucked inside a clearing near the freight tracks in Fairhill, near Second and Indiana Avenue.

The first step in overhauling Northeast Philadelphia’s heavily-trafficked Roosevelt Boulevard will be an Enhanced Bus System (EBS), according to a forthcoming study by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.

The following is a public-service announcement: Tuesday's Democratic mayoral primary will be held as scheduled.
Despite recent polls, commentary, and endorsements that suggest a conclusion has already been reached in this campaign, the sometimes-messy business of democracy requires that at least one ballot be cast before a winner is declared.

Frozen yogurt, a basketball clinic, handshakes with military veterans. The six candidates for the Democratic nomination for mayor criss-crossed the city on the last Saturday before Tuesday's primary election.

A week after the campaign finance guns were shown by the top three mayoral candidates, James Kenney, Anthony H. Williams and Lynne Abraham are continuing to gather ammunition. Last week’s campaign finance reporting deadline showed that Kenney and Williams had raised $1.3 million each and Abraham raised $1 million. Since then, any campaign that receives or gives a donation of more than $500 must report it within 24-hours.

Chances are that voters heading to the polls in Tuesday's primary will know at least a few of the mayoral candidates, but it's less likely they will be able to list off many of the 23 people in the crowded field for City Council at-large.

With the Democratic primary for mayor five days away, former City Councilman James F. Kenney visited a predominantly African American neighborhood Thursday to pick up the endorsement of City Council President Darrell L. Clarke.

The Philadelphia city controller says the "greatest economic impact" in jobs and tax revenue for the 200-acre Southport section at the eastern end of the Navy Yard would be as a marine terminal for container cargo.

Legislation that would create a state-run system for low-performing Pennsylvania schools could devastate the Philadelphia School District, its superintendent told the Senate Education Committee in Harrisburg on Wednesday.

They're not altogether wild about the choice of Philadelphia mayoral candidates on Tuesday's Democratic ballot. They're glad for a lack of "mudslinging" so far, as one put it. Some are wary of candidates' ties to unions, donors, or City Hall. And some just haven't decided.

A City Hall legal drama years in the making drew to a quiet close Wednesday as a federal judge accepted prosecutors' decision to dismiss their public corruption case against a top aide and two supporters of former Philadelphia City Councilman Jack Kelly.